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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. mark — a trace
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. fall — the season
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. bank — of a river
  11. bank — for money
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bat — the animal
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mark — a grade
  19. fall — to drop
  20. tear — from crying
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. stock — goods
  23. shower — rain
  24. bank — for money

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com